Amph What was the last movie you saw? (Ver. 2)

I thought there were like 12 sequels in the Borne franchise.

 

There's five Bourne films, only one of which revolves around Aaron Cross, the lead of Bourne Legacy. The other four follow Jason Bourne himself. I'd rather see another film about Aaron Cross.

 

What Price Honesty?

Deep in my Shaw Brothers binging, I ordered this because I like two of the three main actors. The movie is such a potent portrayal of the effects of standing up for your beliefs or selling yourself out due to fear, that one viewing pretty much leveled me for months. Basically three newly conscripted constables try to clean up corruption in a local town and begin splintering apart when they all do not agree on how to handle the corruption. There's an ugly rape scene (which -as with most films- is not needed to show how far men have fallen), that pretty much sums up how brutal this film is on both a visual and psychological level. It is the choices the constables make that unleashes terrible consequences for all three of them.

Former Venoms kicker (and their best traditional actor) Sun Chien proves he wasn't just a nice looking guy whose Tae Kwon Dao said something else entirely: Chien acts his heart out here. If you're only used to see him as The Scorpion #3 (from Five Venoms), you're in for a treat. Pai Pao probably took the most risks in his 80s Shaws output (each movie he appeared in was more intense or unhinged than the last) and he's quite good as the constable who refuses to give into the awful world around him.

Lo Lieh spices things up nicely (and is a welcome respite from the unbearable aura hanging over the trio of policemen.)

Before director Sun Chung began exploring his characters and their actions far deeper than any previous director at Shaw Brothers, this kind of period film or wuxia wasn't made (Chu Yuan flirted with it but never committed to putting his heroes through the ringer.) Other directors (like the fellow who made this) were possibly emboldened by Sun Chung's award winning The Avenging Eagle (perhaps the earliest of the bleak wuxia or period Shaws), so around 1980, the SB mandate was to dabble in much darker territory with movies like Killer Constable and this (Ironically, Sun Chung would jump into literal horror concepts around this time. His potently nasty and excellent Human Lanterns took the uncompromisingly rough character studies of What Price Honesty? and Killer Constable and threw those types into utterly bonkers graphic horror.)

I like these bleaker Shaws and think most of them are very well made, but I prefer the heroic wuxias and less serious martial arts movies to these because I dislike hanging around in these worlds any longer than I have to.

 

Hostiles. It seems like a long time since I've seen Christian Bale in anything; his Batman-era heyday seems to be over. I don't know why, though, because he's still a hell of an actor. Bale anchors a film full of great performances (Rosamund Pike is predictably great, too). Opening with an Indian raid, and then introducing Bale's Army captain as a hardened, bitter Indian fighter driven by the friends he's lost, it starts with the mutual hostility of whites and Native Americans, explores the ways it's understandable on both sides, and then takes a long journey toward some mutual understanding by forcing Bale to escort a former nemesis, now dying, and his family to Montana. Along the way he picks up Pike, the survivor of the opening raid, and Ben Foster as a soldier sentenced to die for murder, and they come across various bands of no-good individuals. This is the film's big weakness; its themes are rather predictable and trite, and the narrative is mostly just a collection of incidents along the course of their journey rather than being driven by a single focus. It makes the whole thing feel a bit haphazardly contrived to hammer those themes. It looks good, has a great cast, and is pretty darn satisfying, but it could have been a better film if it sprawled a little less.

 

Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)

Eh, it was alright, but did it need to be 142 minutes long?

Coco (2017)

Absolutely charming and wonderful, it's one of the most beautifully crafted animated films I've ever seen. If it doesn't win both of its Oscars, I'll sue.

 

Last movie I saw as well, and I agree with pretty much all of this. Scott Cooper seems like a filmmaker that has a great movie in him, we just haven't seen it yet. Hostiles is really good, and for me the best of his directorial efforts.

 

Call Me By Your Name (2017) – Luca Guadagnino

You seem to know more than anyone else around here.

If you only knew how little I really know about the things that matter.

What things that matter?

You know what things.

Why are you telling me this?

Because I thought you should know.

Because you thought I should know?

Because I wanted you to know. Because I wanted you to know. Because I wanted you to know. Because I wanted you to know.

Call Me By Your Name is the story of an unlikely friendship that then becomes an even less likely romance that then becomes an even less likely sexual affair. It meanders, takes its time and conjures a real, palpable atmosphere. The beautiful photography and use of music is really gorgeous and transporting. It’s a melancholy character study that also functions as an evocative look at love and romantic passion and it’s undeniably evocative and compelling. Timothee Chalamet gives a genuinely magnificent performance, a performance that buries the emotions at times beneath a mask of minimalism, but still manages to be incredibly powerful. With the final shot alone, he’s cemented himself as one of the finest actors working today and I can’t wait to see what he does next. He has a fascinating way of communicating deep emotion while also keeping ambiguity. Armie Hammer is an actor I’ve never particularly loved, but this role plays to his strengths, which are an easy, natural charm and, well, let’s face it, his near physical perfection. As a tormenting object of desire for a teenager struggling with his sexuality, you couldn’t pick a better person. And his performance here is as good as he’s ever been probably. Veteran character actor Michael Stuhlbarg is good in his supporting role, until he gets a late scene that revolves around a quite lengthy monologue and then he’s jaw-droppingly great. Esther Garrel is also very good as Chalamet’s on-again-off-again girlfriend; it’s a role that might have been thin & thankless, but she gives it real depth and feeling. The film isn’t perfect. There are issues with the screenplay. It’s in such serious dead-earnest that it occasionally comes damnably close to self-parody. And just when it seems to be reaching its climax, it suddenly slips into a meandering, late-third-act section of our two main characters having an idyllic vacation. I’m all for aimlessly wandering in a romantic haze, but we’ve just spent a good part of the previous two hours doing exactly that already and the head-fake in the direction of an ending that then turns into more of the same in a different town is a bit trying. But certainly none of these problems are crippling and they pale in comparison to the pleasures and beauties of this fine film. It’s a movie that puts its foot wrong a couple of times, but it’s mostly operating gracefully and quietly and it’s a film I think will stand the test of time and, in fact, I rather think it will be better on a second watch, which is no mean feat given the quality a first watch revealed. 4 stars.

tl;dr – some screenplay issues, but astonishing performances, gorgeous visuals and a palpable atmosphere elevate this beautiful film above any problems. 4 stars.

 

Raiders of the Lost Ark

I never ever get sick of this film. It’s always a fantastic watch. It’s just so well done. Every aspect of it.

Harrison Ford is and always will be my favourite actor. He brings so much to the character of Indy to make him so likeable. In my opinion, he’s the greatest film character of all time, just in front of Han Solo.

One thing I miss from adventure films these days is the actual adventure. There’s never been anything like this series, which is why I’m hoping the new Uncharted series is a success.

The score is one of the greatest ever. John Williams is an absolute genius. The cinematography also stood out to me more than usual, as I’ve grown to appreciate these things more lately. My favourite example is below. The use of silhouettes is pretty impactful.



There’s just nothing to fault here.

9.5/10.

 

King Arthur Legend of the Sword . Guy Ritchie .

I don't know what to make of this , it's basically Arthur and his mates as a bunch of cockney geezers . There's a lot of film speeding up and slowing down , they must've spent a fair bit on it but I can't imagine it would appeal to many .

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It didn't get very good reviews here in the UK.

 

I remember seeing trailers for this thinking that he was trying to mash-up his Sherlock Holmes movies with the Arthurian mythos. It didn’t really look like it worked very well, consequently I wound up not seeing it. I have a feeling that sort of aesthetic would work much better with Robin Hood than King Arthur.

 

yes. I was thinking that as I watched it . Jude Law even plays a type of sheriff of Nottingham character

 

I loved King Arthur. I really like Guy Ritchie's style and I thought it worked well in that film. The soundtrack and action scenes were incredible.

 

Frankie and Lola .

Romantic Noir . Reminded me of those films Alan Rudolph used to make . A chef gets into a relationship with a younger girl , but she's got a past , she reveals that she was raped , but was she ?

it looks like they were on a tight budget , but you don't see this type of film much anymore . Imagine Leaving Las Vegas meets Vertigo .

 

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women .

bio-pic about the guy and gals who created Wonder Woman . Marston was a professor he had a somewhat bohemian relationship with 2 women , the film looks at his developing ideas about bondage , dominance , compliance etc. And inventing the lie detector . So there's a fair bit of sex and bondage , it can seem a bit pretentious but is also funny .
it's a classy production altho feels a bit long and has that ponderous gentle piano music .

shame the WW movie couldn't have included some of the bondage themes 'cos they were very prevalent in the early issues .

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I doubt that would've been a priority for Patty Jenkin's movie.

 

Justice League (2017) - Plot; When an ancient threat arises again, Bruce Wayne endeavors to put together a team of heroes with unique abilities to stop it.

In the cinematic battle between DC and Marvel, the former is impossibly far behind. While Marvel is set to bring us their third go 'round with their team of mighty heroes this Summer, DC is just now releasing their first. Add in that Marvel carefully, methodically laid out their characters and their universe while DC zipped around like a fly at a picnic, and thus far it's simply been no contest. Marvel has had its less than stellar entries (Iron Man 3, Thor 2), but as a whole their cinematic universe is strong, cohesive and unified. Can DC even the score a bit with their super team up film? No. No they cannot.

Justice League feels rushed. Not just because characters enter the stage with no solo film to help set them up, but because the entire affair often feels like a shoddy cut 'n paste job. In this day and age of bloated running times I appreciate JL's attempt at brevity, but it's not the result of efficient storytelling so much as some suit saying "Cut! Cut! Trim! Trim!". Not helping matters is that this reported $300 million production looks cheap. The special f/x are anything but and it ultimately looks like a bad video game. Saddled with a weak and undercooked villain, our hero's best efforts aren't enough to save the day. - 5/10

 

'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'

I actually like this one quite a bit. I mean it's no masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but so much of the criticism thrown at it kind of baffles me. People hate the Aliens and the Nuke the Fridge scene, Okay but since when were the Indiana Jones movies heralded for their gripping realism?

It has it's problems sure. Shia is annoying but is he more annoying than Short Round or Willie? Honestly I think he comes across pretty good on that front.

I don't know. I think for a fourth sequel this comes across as a fine non offensive piece of entertainment

 

The Commuter

I was looking forward to this because I love Liam Neeson. I thought it’d be pretty good, but I didn’t expect it to be as good as it was! It’s Liam’s last action film, and boy did he go out with a bang!

You know how Liam looked like an old man in Taken 3, hobbling along and stuff? Well he’s nothing like that in this film. He looks fit and healthy, and not once does he seem like he shouldn’t be doing this. He has some pretty intense fight scenes and he does incredibly well in all of them. Good on you Liam!

The film has some great plot twists that I didn’t see coming. Like Non-Stop, it does very well at throwing you off then completely surprising you when the reveals happen. The action was also really well done and choreographed. Especially one particular fight that’s done in one shot, where Liam’s character is fighting someone with a guitar. Yes, a guitar!

It’s really interesting from start to finish and keeps you on the edge of your seat. They make you love Liam’s character right from the start so everything that happens from then onwards has more impact. Not only was it just a great action and mystery film, it was also technically great. The editing and cinematography is really nice, especially at the beginning. All of the acting was really solid. There’s also some good laughs. This film should definitely be getting more love than it is.

8.5/10.

 

I tried watching The Ultimate Warrior (1975) with Yul Brynner as a knife fighter working for commune Baron Von Sydow in post-apocalyptic New York, but it was Gymkata quality stuff barely held together by Brynner's non-action scenes, and the action certainly did not have the skill of gymnastics or the kill of karate, so I turned it off not even halfway through.

 

I can't finish a movie lately.

Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment - Made it to where Mahoney's going undercover as a gang member.

Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol - Think I made it to the yama yama yama yama yaaama scene.

Wayne's World - To the Dream Weaver bit.

Somehow, though I can't manage breezy 90-minute comedies atm, I did get all the way through the interminable Dune a few weeks ago.

 

The Incredibles

One of the most fun and cool Pixar films. Glad to watch it again after a long time.

 

Maleficent